Tricolor Eclairs

Note to self: Never try and bake a present for a friend.

It all started with such good intentions on one grey Wednesday afternoon. For some reason or another, I missed my cousins leaving do. So naturally I was thinking of ways to make up for my ineptitude of being a decent friend.

While I was pondering my mind, it came to me. The ultimate present, that would taste so nice she could completely forget what a useless friend I had been.

I would make her eclairs, but not just any eclairs- tricolour eclairs; in light of her new residence in Paris. (My inability to bake escaped me during the brain-storming process, the fact that I had never made eclairs or pastries for that matter was just a minor detail in the scheme of things.)

And yes, someone did warn me this would be hard- but recently my bakes had been rather good for my low standard and with my new found confidence, I decided to proceed- if only I knew..

Hour, after hour, after hour. I was defeated by the usually picturesque Parisian puffs - which turned out in my case turned out to be soggy, deflated bits of pastry with a dribble, which was meant to be custard.

I will warn you now, this bake is not to be underestimated- if you are a beginner- proceed with caution- actually if you are a normal human- proceed with caution!
They are amazing when they are done well, but to accomplish the common eclair is only for the baking gods among us. And for now- I will buy them.

P.S. You may even see my hopeless bake on 'Bake Off: An Extra Slice'! At least if it's going to be an awful bake it might as well be the best of the worst.

What I hoping to achieve (creds- the little loaf blog)

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                                                                     ...my masterpiece 

Calorie free cake

This week I baked a cake for 'free cakes for kids' which is part of the organisation student community action. It's brilliant to be part of, as I can combine two passions of mine- baking and charity.

This week was a for a Harry Potter Party which is run for children in care. Originally wanted to do a book, however, I was restricted on size- which is probably a good thing as I was definitely over estimating my bake beginner ability. 

The cake was good old, queen of cakes, Mary Berry's chocolate cake recipe- which is amazing. And I used dye to colour the white fondant. 

It looks quite simple but let me tell you it took far longer than it looks. But it was very fun to do, and not only calorie free (as I couldn't have any) but with the added goodness of doing a good deed. I thoroughly recommend! 

Or alternatively, just make two cakes! (One for tasting purposes only, of course.)

G & T cupcake anyone?

Yes it happened. Gin- good, tonic- good, cake- gooood. Why not mash them all together you say? What a fantastic idea. 

With rave reviews this bake was a success, maybe due to the their intoxication.. They actually enjoyed it. Horray at last. My baking career can only keep going up from here. Made for my friends birthday, who is celiac, I thought maybe I should let her have one too. So they are gluten free. And this gluten free bake I thoughly recommend. Recipe is from 'bake it instinct' and I used half the ingredients for the icing which was a perfect amount. However I would recommend to put more gin in, just for more of a kick. 

So if you feel you don't have enough cake or gin in your life. Try this recipe- bake it instinct 'gin and tonic cupcakes'. Cheers Dominique ✌🏻️

Gooo- ten free brownies

So I'm back, inspired by comic relief bake off- I've decided to make gluten free brownies. 

Now.. From the title you would expect them to be gooey.. I'm afraid I've deeply mislead you. These 'brownies' I repeat, were far from it. 

I have realised from my many endeavours  in the baking world, I make everything into cake.. Everything. Even cookies, which is actually quite an achievement. Anyways, back to the cakwnies- see what I did there- cake/brownies- thought I'd clear that up. I think they would be good if I hadn't mashed up recipes due to not remembering the ground almonds. But anyways I feel deliciously Ella's recipe is probably brilliant, but for a forgetful student like myself the reality is very different. 

Although on the plus side, they are marginal healthy, made with sweet potato and taste good with satsuma. (Everything tastes good with satsuma). 

.. At least I did better than David's bake on bake of..